Republican call to sell Salem County Nursing Home tabled by freeholders

View full sizeSunbeam file photoA call by a Republican Salem County Freeholder Dale Cross to sell the Salem County Nursing Home was tabled at this week's freeholder meeting.

SALEM — An attempt by Republican Freeholder Dale Cross to initiate the sale of the Salem County Nursing Home was tabled here on vote split between party lines by the freeholder board this week.

Cross cited increasing debt and what he claimed is wasteful spending as the rationale behind his push to sell the nursing home.

“Since the Improvement Authority took over operation of the facility in 2008, their brief history shows deficits of $1.1 million, $3.075 million, $2.8 million respectively,” said Cross.

Cross said Salem County also allocated $3.4 million to help defray the cost of the nursing home during their first year in operation.“The total reaches nearly $10.375 in a two and half year period,” he said at this week’s freeholder meeting at the Old Courthouse.

Chairman of the Salem County Improvement Authority Michael Burke disagreed with the numbers presented by Cross. He said more realistically debt has totaled $7 million not $10 million.

Other then monetary issues, Cross said more needs to be done to increase efficiency at the facility in Mannington Township.

“Despite varied efforts the nursing home continues to operate at 80 to 85 percent capacity,” said Cross, a Republican. “We need to chose the best option for Salem County.”

Freeholder Bruce Bobbitt was upset by the motion made to sell the nursing home. He said there is no need for the freeholder board to intervene, because SCIA has taken the necessary steps to investigate the future of the nursing home.

“That nursing home has run in a deficit for many years,” said Bobbitt, a Democrat. “The Improvement Authority have been working to make changes and the top brass out there has adopted a two-pronged approach.”

The two consultant firms were brought in to investigate the viability of keeping the nursing home open or selling it.

At the meeting Cross said this was throwing away good money, but Burke said by phone Thursday that they have not spent any money on the consultants yet.

“This process has been going on for about three months, so there is no secret that we brought on two consultants,” said Burke. “But to date we have not paid either one a single cent for their work.”

Burke said in light of the union’s unwillingness to take concessions, the SCIA board has decided to hold off on any further direction from the consultant who is looking into keeping the nursing home.

“As far as the move to privatize or sell the nursing home, we have not paid anything,” said Burke. “The real estate consultant will be paid off the commission from the sale of the facility.”

Freeholder Julie Acton said the sale is needed to stop unnecessary spending of taxpayer money.

“When we transferred over the nursing home, the plan was to break even or increase our revenue,” said Acton. “But because the finances at the home have significantly worsen, I think it would be better if we sold the nursing home.”

The freeholder board transferred the home to the Salem County Improvement Authority which also operates the Salem County Landfill in Alloway Township.

Amongst the political bickering at this week’s meeting, Freeholder Beth Timberman offered a voice of reason between the parties. She urged the board to concentrate not on the building itself, but the people inside it.

“You have to be concerned with what happens to our most vulnerable population,” said Timberman. “What are we going to do when residents have no where to go? When other nursing homes won’t take them.”

Cross showed concern about the employees who have been left in limbo on whether their job will be viable in the coming weeks. He urged the freeholders to approve the sale of the nursing home at the earliest practical opportunity.

“As you can see the Improvement Authority has been at the helm of this out-of-control vehicle and it needs to come to and end, sooner rather than later,” Cross said.

Burke did not understand why all of the sudden Cross wanted to rush the issue.

Salem County Administrator/Clerk of the Board Earl Gage said the process to sell the nursing is a delicate one.

“We aren’t selling a used car here,” said Gage. “This is a multi-million dollar facility with over 100 employees and 85 residents.”

Burke said the sale must be done through a bid package and that the county’s license from the state to operate the home must be transferred to the new buyer, which can take anywhere from four to 12 months.

“By the end of this week we should have the documents together to send out the first bid package,” said Burke. “We have already been contacted by five or six companies just in New Jersey alone.”

Burke said right now the consultants have put a price mark of $7.5 million to purchase the nursing home.

SCIA would use the money from the sale to replace the surplus at the landfill which has been used to subsidize the nursing home operations and then the rest would go into the county surplus.